One by one, the crowd pulled out their phones. As expected, the livestream had skyrocketed to the top of the trending list.
[This woman is pure evil.]
[That guy’s trash. Cheated and tried to destroy her family? Disgusting.]
[All this just to steal someone’s inheritance? Is there anything these two wouldn’t do?]
[My heart breaks for the sister–her brother actually kicked her. That had to hurt.]
Rachel kept her eyes tightly shut, refusing to look at the wave of hateful comments flooding the
stream.
Ethan wasn’t doing much better. His entire body shook, and he was too stunned to speak.
“No… no way,” Rachel muttered to herself like a lunatic, eyes unfocused. “I planned it all so perfectly… how could this happen?”
In the corner, my dad and Michael stood silently, watching everything unfold with complicated expressions. My mom had already broken down into uncontrollable sobs.
Then, notification chimes started going off.
#Sister–in–law caught in affair with her brother–in–law
#Fake assault scheme exposed–Rachel and Ethan tried to frame the sister
#Trash couple reunited through crime
Post after post flooded the trending topics.
Rachel completely lost it. She broke into loud, ragged sobs, mascara streaming down her face.
A police officer stepped forward, face stern. “You need to come with us to the station for further investigation.”
Rachel struggled to break free.
“No–no, don’t touch me! I’m pregnant! You can’t arrest me!”
Michael had been gone for three months on business. Everyone in the room knew exactly whose baby she was carrying.
The officer let out a sigh. “Pregnant or not, you’re still coming in.”
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Rachel suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me.
“Charlie, please… I was wrong, okay? I’m sorry. I don’t want to go to jail. Please forgive me.”
She clung to my legs, sobbing pitifully.
Ethan followed her lead, throwing himself at my feet.
“Baby, I messed up. Please forgive me. It was her, she seduced me and I lost control. I’ll make it up to you. We can still fix this.”
Moments ago, they were playing the loving couple. Now they were scrambling to blame each other and act like the bigger victim.
I took a single step back, not saying a word.
The officers cuffed them and took them away.
Michael hesitated, then walked over to me.
“That kick… it must’ve hurt. I’m sorry, Charlie. I was wrong. We were all wrong.”
I calmly stepped away from his hand before it could land on my shoulder.
“Do you really think saying sorry means anything now?”
“If I hadn’t been smart enough to record everything, would you all still think I arranged for Rachel to be assaulted?”
My father bowed his head, silent.
“We were fooled,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
I thought for a moment before replying. “Don’t bother. I’ve got an important meeting in the morning, and I’m done wasting time on any of you.”
Michael looked like he wanted to say something more–but in the end, he just nodded.
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